But when those in other countries behave this way, don't we call them what they are?

Cheney, Rumsfeld, Perle and all the rest are simply ultra right-wing nationalist extremists.

For a long time I laughed at Republicans who talked about their fervent desire to ensure that all Americans have "access" to quality healthcare. That means absolutely nothing.

This language is just the same, but I'm not laughing any longer.

For those who bitch and gripe about the S-CHIP program, take a look at the rates and where the money goes. It's not much better than anything else out there, and completely out of reach for many in my predicament: divorced, underemployed, and with a child's healthcare in the balance.

I wouldn't call a $2.6T industry "weak." They're just pusses.

We were promised transparency, and until the numbers are up for all to see, and we're not distracted by death panels and other ridiculous nonsense, people are, indeed, worried. The Federal Government is spending that capital wisely, and in a measured way, but I still have to hunt down all the things it's doing. It is working... slowly.

Consider that about 60% of the population is either transient or firmly rooted in the Moron Contingent, and they always need a bogeyman to talk politics or social change. And that's an independent perspective; I have plenty of "progressive" friends who are completely MC.

Would you have expected the Great Depression to be over in half a year? We were awfully damn close to that less than a year ago. Let's not get wrapped up in the daily polling and keep our eye on the ball. We've got a ways to go before we shake loose the notion that another little "tax cut" or two in the right places would have had any effect at all.

Time to send a special emissary to Grassley's pork chop thing with a message on the end of a steak knife.

Call 'em Joan. LIARS.

I've had it with these guys. It's time to go Chicago.

Let's stop knocking President Obama for "offering few specifics on his health plan."

He's leading, quite Presidentially (I know we haven't seen that in a while), by clearly delivering a mission to the Congress, where he has spent much of his career. In short: he knows the difference between being President and being a legislator, which is where specifics (that will pass the test of veto) have to come together.

There's that Constitutional Scholar thing again... yeesh.

@Rance: I want the same things you do, but I'm not going to start pissing in everybody's drinks because I'm not getting MY way. We already had 8 years of that bullshit, which gave all the motherfuckers in the healthcare even more power than when the Clintons failed at a single payer plan 15 years ago!

Remember this: These greedy bastards offered up $200B a year -- $2 TRILLION --for 10 years, ostensibly in cost savings efficiencies alone. Think of what they'll be asked for in a couple of years, when the public is more at ease with the kind of reforms Obama's asked for (mainly efficiencies and matters of fairness, and not just "access"), and we have another couple of years to call out for the savings from fraud, greed, abuse of the consumer, the contribution healthcare has made to the destruction of the country's manufacturing base, and all the other wonderful aspects of the "free market" healthcare system.

Burris was one of the most effective, most decent public servants we've seen in Illinois in decades. He's straight as an arrow, and I was proud to jump on his bandwagon when he ran for governor.

Of course, he fell victim to The Machine in that primary, which gave Blagojevich the nod. Since then, Burris's stock has been falling everywhere. He would have done well to spend the rest of his career in a university setting, and I wish him well.

True, he has lent himself poorly to the whole spectacle, post-Blagojevich, and it will be sad to see him end an otherwise exemplary life in public service with that mark on his career (along with some of his quizzical statements).

One thing that the whole appointment "scandal" proved to me is that we have miles and miles to go when it comes to race and politics in Illinois.

to the "crazy" bit, eh? Hmmm. I think I've seen this before.

I got it. It doesn't take much.

What's more difficult is explaining what's going on here. You were right the first time. He's projecting. Absolutely. These are code words. Rush would never use the term "cracker."

I might. Jeff Sessions? Cracker. Trent Lott? Fast-talking (beware the congenial fast-talking Southerner), "Golden Rule-dropping" Cracker.

"Honky," from a Rush Limbaugh equates to "Uncle Tom" from a Jesse Jackson. It's code. He's telling other white people that you're a sissy when it comes to dealing with these uppity black people; you've betrayed your race, Joan.

It's ugly, inflammatory, and has no place in a national dialogue. Rush Limbaugh is not only a Big Fat Liar, he's a bleeding hemorrhoid.

You've simply got to get back to the stuff that matters now. He wants you to waste time on this so it gives him more material.

Might have included "Fluffer."

Let me guess: 0 said college professor?